Boat mooring apparatus



April 18, 1939.

" E. GORSKEY BOAT MOORING APPARATUS Filed July 6. 1937 A-r-foRNEY Patented Apr. 18, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 4 Claims.

The invention relates to mooring apparatus for rowboats and other water-craft.

It has been customary to moor rowboats and the like to docks by ropes or chains, but the usual types of moorings have permitted the boats to move about under the action of wind and waves, resulting in rubbing or bumping of the boats against the docks and other nearby boats. It has been found possible to restrain movement of moored boats to some extent by using a number of mooring lines or bridles, but this type of mooring has required special dock constructions or the use of additional anchorage supports.

An object of the invention is to provide simple, durable, and inexpensive boat mooring apparatus which can be used on docks of ordinary construction, which will restrain horizontal movement of a boat while permitting vertical movement by waves or changes in water level, which can be quickly attached to and released from the boat, and which will not interfere with tilting of the boat for the purpose of emptying water from the boat.

Another object of the invention is to provide mooring apparatus which will permit relatively safe transfer of a rider toancl from, the boat.

The invention further consists in the several features hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawing, illustrating certain embodiments of the invention,

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a. boat moored to a dock by one form of mooring apparatus constructed in accordance with the invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation taken generally along the line 2--2 of Fig. 1, parts of the apparatus being shown in different positions by full and dotted lines;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken generally along the line 3-3 01' Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a detail sectional view taken along the line 4-4 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is an elevation of the boat-attaching end of the apparatus, and

Fig. 6 is a detail sectional elevation of a modifled form of boat-attaching apparatus.

In the drawing, i designates a dock of any ordinary constructiom here shown to have posts or piles H and a side stringer I2, and I3 designates a rowboat of any usual construction.

The boat is held to the dock by mooring apparatus of the invention, comprising one or more mooring arms designated generally by M, two spaced arms being indicated in the present instance. Each mooring arm comprises a rigid tubular bar l which has a forked end is nivotally connected by a horizontal bolt II to a slide block it, the bolt extending substantially parallel to the side of the dock and transversely of the arm.

The slide block l8 has a rectangular portion l9 slidably confined in a vertical guideway formed between a pair of metal plates 2| and 22 which constitute a housing. The plate 2| is flat and rests against the dock stringer 12, while the plate 22 is of channel shape and has a vertical slot 23 in its web portion, the slot having closed ends. The two plates are held together and to the dock stringer by screws 24 passing through apertured marginal portions of the plates. In some instances, the plates may be attached directly to posts or piles of the dock. The slide block l8 has a reduced portion passing through the slot 23 and receiving the pivot bolt l'l.

An upwardly projecting lug 25 on the slide block also passes through the slot and has screwthreaded therein a horizontal bolt 26 which enters any one of a plurality of openings 21 formed in a vertical row in the .plate 2| to hold the slide block at an adjustable elevation above the water line. Each mooring bar is confined by its mounting against movement in a direction parallel to its pivotal axis.

The outer end of the tubular bar I5 carries an upwardly opening bearing socket portion 28 which cooperates with a complementary bearing socket portion 29 of a cap member 30 to form a cylindrical bearing detachably receiving the horizontal, cylindrical journal portion 3| of a yokelike fastening member 32- secured to the gunwale of the boat, the fastening member having angleshaped supporting portions which hold the journal portion spaced above the gunwale and which are attached by screws 33 to the upper edge of the gunwale. The bearing recess of each socket portion is substantially semi-circular in crosssection. The axes of the journal portions 3| of the two fastening members are substantially aligned and are parallel to the longitudinal axis of the boat and to the axes of the pivot bolts H. The fastening members 32 are spaced laterally from the central. longitudinal plane of the boat a distance approximating one-half the beam of the boat, and are spaced from the ends of the boat. The cap member has a forked end portion pivotally secured by a cross pin 34 to the upper portion of the tubular bar l5, which latter is cut away at its outer end to receive the cap member and is provided with side lugs 35 engageable with the cap member when in its closed position. At

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lever 36 having a hooked lower end engageabie with a keeper lug 31 formed on the bearing socket portion 28, the lever being urged to latching position by a spring 38. The latch lever is disposed between spaced lugs 89 on the cap member and is journalled on a cross pin 40 carried by these lugs. An eye I projecting downwardly from the tubular bar I5 is adapted to receive the shackle of a padlock l2 embracing the cap-holding end of the bar to prevent unauthorized persons from releasing the boat from the bar.

In operation, when it is desired to moor the boat, the boat is brought alongside the dock, and the mooring arms H are lifted by the occupant from their hanging positions, the bearing socket portion 28 of each arm being brought under the journal portion II of the corresponding fastening member 32 of the boat, whereupon the cap member 29 is swung to its closed position, the latch lever 36 snapping over the keeper lug 31. This attachment of the mooring arms can be quickly and safely eifected while the occupant of the boat remains seated. If desired, the padlocks 42 are applied to the mooring arms. The boat is held by-the strut-forming mooring arms against inward and outward movement with respect to the dock, and also against longitudinal movement, and the arms are preferably short enough so that the occupant of the boat may step directly to the dock, this transfer being relatively safe as the boat is confined against horizontal shifting. The fastening members 32 for the mooring arms, being secured to a side of the boat, do not obstruct either the bow or the stern, leaving the latter free for the mounting of an outboard motor and for other purposes.

A person desiring to use the moored boat may step directly from the dock to the boat in comparative safety, and the mooring arms may be quickly and conveniently released by the rider after he is seated in the boat. The release of each mooring arm is effected (after unlocking the padlock) by pushing against the upper end of the latch lever 36, permitting the socket portion 28 to drop to the gunwale, and then swinging the cap member upwardly to clear the fastening member. The released mooring arms th'en swing downwardly about their pivot bolts H. The eye 4| on the mooring arm may be used to support the padlock when the latter is not in use.

When the boat'is moored, it is free to move up and down under wave action or change in water level, but is restrained against lateral movement so as to avoid bumping or rubbing on the dock or nearby boats. By means of the screws 26 the elevation of the pivotal mountings of the mooring arms may readily be adjusted, both to compensate forthe original setting of each set of the plates 2| and 22 and for subsequent changes in water level.

The mounting of the mooring arms at a side of the rowboat permits the use of relatively short against lateral shifting in the operation.

While the mooring arms are preferably mounted on a dock or the like, in some instances they may be mounted on isolated posts or piles standing out in the water. I V ing arms may also be attached to larger vessels when boats are to be moored thereto.

In the modified form of the invention shown in Fig. 6, a fastening member 32 secured by screws 33 to the gunwale has a spherically formed bearing portion 3|, and the outer end of the mooring arm and its cap member have correspondingly formed bearing socket portions 28 and 28"respectively, to engage the bearing portion 3|, so as to forms. ball and socket bearing. The mooring device of Fig. 6 is otherwise similar to that shown in Figs. 2 to 5, and is used in the same manner.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A mooring device for a boat, comprising a bar, means for detachably securing an end of said bar to the boat, a slide member pivotally secured to the other end of the bar, means adapted to be secured to a support for guiding said slide member for up-and-down movement, said guiding means having apertures at different elevations, and means selectively engageable in said apertures for locking said slide member at an adjusted elevation.

2. A mooring device for a rowboat and the like, comprising a bar, means for pivotally securing an end of said bar to a support to permit said bar to swing about a substantially horizontal axis transverse to said bar, a fastening member adapted to be secured to a side of the boat and having a bearing portion, said bar having a bearing socket member with a seat of substantially semi-circular cross-section to engage the bearing portion of said fastening member, a bearing socket member complementary to said socket member of the bar and pivotally carried by said bar, and spring-urged latch means for detachably securing said socket members in bearing-forming position on said bearing portion of the fastening member.

3. A mooring device for a boat, comprising a bar, a housing adapted to be secured to a support and having a guideway and a slot opening on said guideway, said guideway extending in a substantially vertical direction and said housing having a plurality of apertures, a slide member slidably confined in said guideway for up-anddown movement and having a projecting portion extending through said slot, means for pivotally securing an end of said bar to said projecting portion of the slide member to permit said bar to swing about a substantially horizontal axis transverse to said bar, means selectively engageable with said housing apertures for retaining said slide member at an adjusted elevation, and means for detachably securing the other end of said bar to the boat.

4. A mooring device for a rowboat and the like, comprising a bar, means for detachably securing an end of said bar to the boat, a slide member pivotally secured to the other end of the bar, means adapted to be secured to a support for guiding said slide member for up-and-down movement, said guiding means having locking abutments at different elevations, and means selectively interengageable with said locking abutments for locking said slide member at an adiusted elevation.

' ELMER J. GORSKEY.

In certain cases, the moor- I 

